Along with death and taxes, losing brain function is one of the inevitable certainties of life... or is it? Recent research has shown that some mental functions can stand up pretty well to the aging process, and that others actually improve with age, according to several articles last week in The Wall Street Journal.

Aging means deterioration in parts of the brain including the hippocampus (among other things), the area that processes thoughts and experiences for long-term storage. This deterioration leads to less efficiency in remembering things like what someone told you and where you saw someone.

But memory for facts and figures doesn't rely as much on the hippocampus and so it "is relatively resistant to the effects of aging," according to Arthur Kramer of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The brain's sensory areas, responsible for the sense of touch among other things, also performs well over the years.

Some functions of the brain actually improve, research shows. Negative emotions like jealousy and sadness diminish, and the amygdala, the brain's seat of fear and anger, becomes less responsive to things that once triggered it (such as aggravation or threats). So it looks like there is a scientific basis to the perception that people are more at peace with themselves and with the world at large in old age.

Different studies mentioned in The Wall Street Journal note that things like vocabulary improve as we age. They also explain that older brains are full of expert knowledge on carrying out job functions, succeeding at hobbies, etc. Older brains have "cognitive templates," or outlines of problems and solutions that have worked in the past, to help them solve problems, which can help older people work through situations more efficiently than younger people, who methodically tackle problems step by step.

A variety of companies are selling tests and games to help older adults test and flex their mental acuity, to help stave off the effects of cognitive decline and disorders like Alzheimer's disease. These cognitive fitness programs have been popping up at retirement communities and senior centers all over.

The brain handles many activities and, as we're learning, its ability to tackle these functions doesn't decline all at the same time, or at the same pace. Yes, we'll still have those "senior moments" of forgetfulness as we get older... but it doesn't have to mean that our mental skills are going down the tubes.